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No. I. THE RURAL PRESS SERIES. 25 Cts. 

Issued Quarterly. January i, 1900. 



The Hog 



and Hog Cholera 

By Fifteen Specialists... 



COMPII^E^D BY 

jLjLj^ William B. Lloyd, 

Agricultural Editor of the 

National Rural and Family Magazine. 



CONTRIBUTORS: 



Prof. John A. Craig, 

Iowa Kxperiment Station. 

W. W. McClung, 

Practical Hog Raiser. 

Prof. C. S. Plumb, 

Purdue University. 

James Riley, 

Practical Hog Raiser. 
Thomas Convey, 

Practical Hog Raiser. 

Prof. Thomas Shaw,, 

University of Minnesota. 

Prof.G. E. Day, 

Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph.Ont. 



^ W. S. Hannah, 

Union Stock Y'ds, Kansas City. 

Louis F. Swift, 

Swift & Co., Union Stock Y'ds, Chicago. 

Dr. D.Salmon, 

U. S. Bureau of Animal Industry. 
Prof. W. B. Niles, 
Iowa Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. 
Will Manning, 

practical Hog Raiser. 
Prof. A. W. Bitting, 

Purdue University. 
Prof. D. Mcintosh, 
Prof, of Veterinary Science in the Uni- 
versity of Illinois. 



Published by Rural Press Company, Chicago, in. 

1301-7 Unity Building, 79 Dearborn Street. 

Subscription Price, $i.oo Per Year. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

COPYRIGHT OFFICE. 6»#ipi 

No registration of title of this book 
as a preliminary to copyright protec- 
tion has been found. ^/^^ jg ^9Qg 

Forwarded to Order Division -—IVIAK— 19^-1-909- - 

(Date) 

(Apr. 5, 1901—5,000.) 



Copyrighted 1899 
by 
RURAL PRESS CO. 



TWO COPiaS PECEIVBD. 

Library of GongretSs 
/O Office cf the 

o,^\v) D:-.. 1-1899 

Register cf Copyrights, 

The Hog and Hog Cholera. 

By Fifteen Specialists, 

Forty to fifty million head of swine are annually produced in 
the United States, at an average valuation of about $200,000,000 
per year. This industry, therefore, ranks among the most impor- 
tant. Late years the diseases known as swine plague and hog 
cholera have destroyed about one hog out of five in the United 
States, thereby making inroads into the profits of farmers to the 
extent of about $50,000,000. How to check or prevent the disease 
and save this loss has been the subject of investigation and ex- 
perimentation by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry 
and at our several agricultural colleges and among intelligent 
farmers for many years. Further than analyzing the symptoms 
of the disease and discovering the nature and habits of the germs 
that produce it, but little progress has been made, however. 

The hope of being able to contribute something to assist the 
farmers in arresting the ravages of this disease, while at the 
same time furnishing the latest and best information on the sub- 
ject of hog raising, is the motive which inspired the National 
Rural to gather together and publish the data contained in this 
little treatise. If it shall be found useful to the agricultural com- 
munity, the editor will feel well repaid for his labor. 

With best wishes for the prosperity of its many readers, we 
remain, Yours very truly, 

Jas. W. Wilson, 
Editor and Manager, The National Rural, 

Chicago, 111. 



HOG CHOLERA. 



THE NATIONAL KURAL'S SIMPLE PREVENTIVE AND REMEDY. 

PRACTICAL farmers and specialists wlio have contributed 
to the body of this pamphlet have given full information 
in regard to the sanitary conditions which are absolutely 
necessary both for the prevention and cure of hog cholera. 

We have found in our experience with the diseases of human 
kind that the best medium for the spread of disease is filth. What 
is true of mankind is equally true of animal life. We are of like 
flesh and blood. If we were compelled to take our food from 
filthy receptacles, contaminated with the germs of fermentation 
and decay, and drink water mixed with the filth of our own 
excrement and that of others, w^e would consider it a miracle 
indeed if disease and death did not quickly follow. Yet this is 
the way many farmers treat their hogs. Is it any wonder that 
under such circumstances hog cholera and the swine plague are 
prevalent? 

Treat the hogs as enlightened people treat themselves; give 
them good, clean, dry beds to sleep in, their food in clean recep- 
tacles, and pure water to drink drawn from deep wells or fount- 
ains uncontaminated with the seepage from their own pens or 
barnyard; in other words, such water as we drink ourselves, and 
there will be little trouble with sick hogs. 

To these items should also be added that of a reasonable diet. 
If we were to feed ourselves on corn-meal exclusively we would 
soon become sick and die of constipation or diseases engendered 
by it. In this respect also let us use the same common sense we 
apply in feeding ourselves. Give the hog a variety. Mix the 
coarse food with the concentrated, and see that they have access 
to plenty of green food, which they require. 

We also find exercise is conducive to health. The same rule 
applies to hogs and all kinds of stock. In other words, instead 
of neglecting the hogs and treating them just as meanly as we 
possibly know how, apply to them the same hygienic and 
sanitary rules which are known and accepted as conducive to 



6 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

the health of humanity, and it will be found that it is money in 
pocket. 

But all farmers will not follow these hygienic rules, nor pro- 
vide proper sanitary conditions for their stocli. Therefore, as in 
the case of humanity, germs of disease bred among the indolent, 
ignorant and filthy are carried to the intelligent and clean, so 
that the innocent are made to suffer with the guilty. In like 
manner hog cholera and the swine plague are bred in the pens 
of ignorant or careless farmers and conveyed to the stock of the 
careful farmer, who is made to suffer on account of the delin- 
quencies of his neighbor. 

The question the National Rural has set about solving is how 
the careful farmer can protect himself against this carelessness 
of his neighbor. If a neighbor gets the smallpox or his children 
the scarlet fever, we carefully isolate them and use disinfectants 
to prevent the spread of the contagion. The doctor also disin- 
fects the premises and his clothing for the same purpose, and if 
we are near neighbors we disinfect our homes, and in this way 
protect ourselves. 

The same rule will apply in the treatment and prevention of 
hog cholera. This disease is caused by a germ much resembling 
a typhoid fever germ, so nearly so. in fact, that some authorities 
claim that it is typhoid fever. Like typhoid fever, it has its seat 
in the bowels. The germs are spread from the excrement and 
carcasses of the afflicted hogs. In this way the soil about the 
pen, the water supply if they drink out of a common trough or a 
pool, as is too often the case, and the food troughs become sat- 
urated with the germs, which in this way quickly spread from 
hog to hog until the whole herd is affected. To prevent the spread 
of the disease, therefore, and protect our hogs the same methods 
should be employed that have been found effective in preventing 
the spread of contagious diseases among mankind, viz., the liberal 
use of disinfectants and antiseptics. These antiseptics destroy 
the germ, and in this way prevent the spread of the disease and 
protect the hogs. Also, if used in time with their food when the 
case is not too far gone, the disease can be checked even after a 
germ has found lodgment in the system of the hog. 

The following is a simple remedy which we have found effect- 
ive in every case where it has been tried. The material, caustic 
soda, is one of the cheapest and most effective germ destroyers 
in existence. The following is our method of application: 

Dissolve one pound of caustic soda in sufficient water to make 
one quart of mixture. Use as follows: 

Take one-half pint of the mixture to every fifty hogs, and mix 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 7 

it Witli fli^iT writer or liquid food (slop). Stir it in thoroirghly, so 
as to insure thorough dilution. No other medicine will be needed. 
When there is no hog cholera in the immediate neighborhood, 
use this mixture in this way once a month or six weeks as a 
preventive. 

For a disinfectant, take one pint of the mixture to ten gallons 
of water and sprinkle with a sprinkling can over the hogs, ob- 
serving care not to get the mixture into their eyes. 

Also, make a solution of one pint of the mixture to two gallons 
of water, and with this mixture sprinkle their sleeping places. 
Once a month will be sufficient when hog cholera is not in t^ie 
neighborhood. 

In the event that hog cholera is near, sprinkle both the hogs 
and sleeping places, pens, as above, and everything connected 
with the hogs, at least once in two weeks, or more frequently, 
according to nearness or the prevalence of the disease. 

For sick hogs use one-half to three-quarters spoonful of the 
first mixture three or four times daily. It must be well diluted 
with water and mixed with the slop. Shake the mixture well 
before using. Should any of it get on the clothes or hands, wash 
it off immediately, and be careful not to get any of the solution 
into the eyes. 

The ordinary hog cholera medicine, and their number is legion, 
usually consists of a preparation of several kinds of drugs com- 
pounded together, and seem to be framed principally to help the 
drug trade. Only to the extent that they contain antiseptics, 
however, are they valuable. Sick hogs should be promptlj^ sep- 
arated from the herd, or. better still, the herd separated from 
the sick hogs. That is, if any of the hogs are sick, both the well 
and the sick hogs should be excluded from the pens and yards 
where the disease was contracted, and kept separate. Caustic 
soda is cheap. It can be had at almost any drug store. It is 
usually put up in pound cans, which sell at retail from ten to 
twelve cents. People who use common sense in the application 
of this remedy in the care of their hogs need not lose any. 

Jas. W. Wilson, 
Editor and Manager, The National Rural, 

Chicago. 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



SELECTION OF FOUNDATION STOCK. 
By Prof. John A. Craig. 

IT will likely be most satisfactory for me to state briefly tlio 
things that I have had in mind in buying foundation stock 
^ of any kind. Having definite ideas of the kind of stock de- 
sired, and the most important qualities that are needed, it would 
then be well to visit a few of the leading and most reliable 
breeders of such stock. As a rule it is very unsatisfactory to 
buy animals without seeing the-m, and I think this is especially 
true when it relates to the purchase of foundation stock. 

In visiting a breeder whose reliability is unquestioned, I would 
be governed largely by his advice in regard to the merit of the 
animals he is breeding. This may seem an unsatisfactory state- 
ment to the average buyer who is invariably suspicious of the 
breeder trying to sell him stock that has proven to be unsatis- 
factory. I have found, however, that when one gives a reliable 
breeder his confidence as to exactly what he wants, every effort 
will be made to secure it; but if the breeder gets the impression 
that the buyer thinks his statements are made for the purpose 
of selling his stock, then he is likely to be reticent about any of 
his animals. 

Before inspecting a herd, I always like to have the history of 
it at my fingers' ends. It is always an advantage, as well as in- 
teresting, to have the breeder give an account of the sources from 
which he obtained the foundation stock. In presenting this to 
you he will invariably grow enthusiastic over some few of the 
best animals that he bought. They have likely proven to be good 
breeders, exceptional mothers, and in a thousand ways shown 
him unusual qualities. One of the best pieces of advice I can 
give to the novice is, to never forget the names of these ani- 
raals, so that when you come to inspect the herd you will then 
know whether the animals being inspected spring from the best 
sources or not. 

After becoming thoroughly posted as to the composition of the 
herd, inspect the animals that the breeder thinks will suit yon. 
There may be some difference of opinion as to the best time 
at which to make the selection, but I have had much more satis- 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 9 

faction through selecting animals as young as is possible. In 
our own herds, I would much rather make up my mind as to the 
merits of any animal just shortly after it is born than at any 
other time in its growth. I think the frame work and the nat- 
ural form of the colt, the calf, the lamb, and the pig, can be stud- 
ied more accurately then than at any other time of its existence. 
It may not be advisable to buy animals so early, but as soon as 
the pigs are weaned, a safe selection may be made. 

It is unnecessary here to go into all details necessary to ob- 
serve in choosing stock, but I wish to refer to a few things that 
seem to be of the most importance. I find that there is a com- 
mon prejudice existing among most purchasers against buying 
old and tried animals. The more one has to do with breeding 
the readier he is to tie to the animals that have been tried and 
not found wanting. In the case of establishing a herd, I would 
much rather buy a sow, a cow, or a ewe that is past her prime, 
but is yet all right as a breeder than to purchase an untried 
animal. The idea is that you have in the one case tested worth, 
and but little risk, while in the other nothing has been deter- 
mined. 

In selecting either young or old stock, the leading point in my 
view is to see that there is every evidence of that very valu- 
able characteristic which we call constitution. It is hard to 
define it for it takes in health, vigor, and thrift; but it is never- 
theless known by all breeders and highly valued by every one 
engaged in the practical work of breeding live stock. It finds 
expression in activity and force of movement, brightness of the 
eye, and the general appearance of thrift in the hair and hide. 
It is observable in the deep chest, full body and low flank. It 
enables an animal to live long and fill its sphere successfully. 
It might be accepted as a guiding principle, that the possession 
of a good constitution should be noticeable at once in the herd. 

Back of the individual, I would inquire into the hereditary ten- 
dencies. In such work as I have had to do in swine breeding, 
I have found some features having a strong tendency to be 
transmitted, and as these are practical points I think they ought 
to here take precedence over every thing else. In breeding sows, 
blind teats are not infrequent, and I have noticed that these are 
one of the things that are very often transmitted. In choosmg 
a sow, see that she has twelve fully developed teats, six on a 
side, and that they run far forward. The words "fully devel- 
oped" are used advisedly, for if they do not stand out from the 
body and also appear full, they are invariably blind, and in many 
cases they will remain so throughout her career. Again sows 



10 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

are very often deaf, and in many cases Trhere the young pigs 
are killed by the sow lying on them it is very often because 
the sow has been deaf and unable to hear the cries of her young. 
That this is transmitted, I know to be a fact from personal ob- 
servation. That very important quality, prolificness in a brood 
sow is transmitted very strikingly. Some breeders keep this 
quality in mind and select their brood stock with this as the 
most desirable characteristic to secure. Where it is neglected it 
will be found that the litters as a rule are small in number. With 
this characteristic, the milking qualities are usually associated. 
They seem to depend upon each other to a degree for their 
proper development. There is as great a variation in the milk- 
ing qualities of sows as in any other characteristic, and it is a 
point of very great importance, for on it depends the early thrift 
and growth of the young pigs. 

Too much attention, thought, and expense can not be expended 
upon the selection of a boar. Not only should he spring from a 
good family, but in himself he should show those points that are 
commonly sought. First see that he is right individually, and 
then secure the parentage wanted. I would not on any account 
sacrifice one for the other. Masculinity, activity, and general 
vigor reflect possession of constitution and breeding powers. I 
need not say anything further in regard to the type, but I wish 
to emphasize one or two points in regard to the legs which, while 
receiving a great deal of attention from our breeders of late, 
have not been unduly magnified in importance. I refer to the 
shape and set of the hind and fore legs, and also the strength 
of the feet and pasterns. I do not know of any feature that is 
less to be desired in a boar than to find the hock almost buried 
in the ham, and then to have the leg from there to the feet 
slope far forward under the body. This I think is much more 
undesirable than crookedness in the fore legs, though buck 
knees and other deformities are almost as bad. Then see that 
Ihe pastern is strong and that the toes do not spread out. Weak 
pasterns and splayed feet are not only undesirable in themselves, 
but they also indicate a loose knitting of the frame work which 
is incompatible with a form of the proper smoothness and sym- 
metry. 

Iowa Experiment Station. 



—Bran, because of its character of composition, is not a wholly 
desirable feed for pigs. Middlings may be fed with profit at any 
time during the hog's life. 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. II 

SUGGESTIONS TO PORK RAISERS. 
By W. W. McClung. 

PROFIT is what we raise hogs for, and^.the most pounds with 
least cost that will bring highest price gives most profit. 
In order to do this or to make a near approach to it, I 
believe it is absolutely necessary to have well bred stock to 
start with, then it is just as necessary that they be well fed, 
for the best results cannot be obtained without a combination of 
well-bred and well-fed. You will not get as much profit from 
either without the other as you will the two combined. 

As to which breed is the best of the several pure breeds, I 
would say "they are so nearly equal in the essentials for pork 
making that no man can prove that he has the best." Therefore 
select the breed you think you would like best, and you will al- 
ways "be glad you did not take the other." 

Many men have what I believe to be a very erroneous idea 
that crossing one breed with another will be beneficial. I am 
aware that men have raised fine bunches of feeders from cross- 
bred hogs, but the best I have ever seen of the cross-bred ones 
have not excelled the best of the pure-bred or high grades. 

The bad effect of cross-breeding is that you destroy the breed- 
ing quality of your herd for future use, for a half-blood, or 
rather a cross-bred sow will not breed as uniform as a pure bred 
or even a high grade, and uniformity and smoothness count in 
selling any stock for the block. 

Men make these crosses because they say their stock is "run- 
ning out," deteriorating; if it is, they have not done their duty 
in making careful selections of their sows for breeding and 
in choosing a boar. Perhaps by taking a boar that was not 
quite as good as another they saved $5. That plan is "saving at 
the spigot and letting it run at the bung." 

The proof I have to offer that it is not necessary to cross- 
breed to keep hogs from deteriorating is the scores of men who 
for twenty, thirty, forty and even fifty years have bred and 
raised the same breed and have not only "held their own" but 
gradually improved their herds year by year, until to-day they 
are very much superior to the stock they started with. They 
have done this not only with one breed, but with all our pure 
breeds according to length of time the breed has been estab- 
lished. Any one can do this that will follow their example, i. e., 
select the best sows each year to breed from and retain some 
mature sows that raised the best litters the previous year, and 



12 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

when they raise their second Titters ^lect some of these pigs 
for the young sows for future use and keep the old sows over 
again. 

This 1 believe to be the key to success in selecting brood 
sows. 

The boar, however, is of still more importance, for he is the 
sire of many litters each year, while the sow is the dam of but 
one; therefore hunt for a boar that is about right ail over, as 
near so as you may reasonably expect to find, and when you 
find him buy him; buy him as cheai:ly as you can. but buy him. 

A good many years ago I sold a boar for $50 to one of the most 
successful pork raisers I ever knew. I was surprised that any 
one except a breeder would pay that price for a boar, and I told 
him so. He said that when he found a boar that suited him, 
he never allowed any breeder to buy it away from him. Some 
njen seem to fix a price that they will pay for a boar, and then 
hunt for a boar that they can buy at that price. 

A much safer plan for profit is to start out to find a boar that 
will suit to use on your sows, and when you find him pay the 
price it takes to get him. Of course, you miglit find a mnn 
that asked an unreasonable price; if so, there is another good 
one somewhere; hunt him up, but be sure you always buy a 
good one, both in form and breeding. I have never known men 
who follow this method to complain of tfeeir h-ogs "running 
out," but insitead there is a gradual improvement. 

Without going into details, I would say every animal ougiit 
to be thriving (gaining) at time of mating to insure best rf^sults 
from the offspring. So liberal feeding at that time is esprfially 
necessary. It is sometimes hard to keep the boar gaining during 
the breeding season, but if you have milk, rich shorts and occa- 
sionally a piece of fresh meat to give him, and keep him in a 
good pen by himself and give but one service to each sow, he 
will generally respond satisfactorily. 

The growth of pigs should be maintained from start to finish, 
and the only way I know to do this is to arrange a separate 
feeding place for the pigs as soon as they will eat or drink. They 
only require a very little at first, but by gradually increasing 
their feed as they grow older and their dams give less milk, they 
learn to depend more and more on their trough-feed, and then 
there is no "let up" of growth at weaning time, a critical time 
in raising pork for profit, and continued liberal feeding makes 
the most pork for food consumed; makes your hogs ready for 
market at any time, and makes you more certain of profit than 
any other method I know of. 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. I3 

Where large numbers are raised and fed, it is quite essential 
that they be divided into several lots, according to size and age, 
for large numbers of shoats fed all together will not thrive as 
well as if separated into smaller bunches, although the feed may- 
be the same and fed in the same proportion. This is not only 
true as regards their feeding places, but is equally true of their 
sleeping quarters. 

I know men who have a long row of sheds divided into small 
apartments, and after the pigs are weaned and have access to 
these sheds to sleep they make it their business every night for 
a week or more to see that there is about an equal number of 
shoats in each apartment, and after a short time each one goes 
to its place as a horse or cow goes to its stall. A little manage- 
ment at the right time saves time, vexation and loss later on. 

Much more might be said upon this subject, but to sum up our 
points: To make pork raising profitable, these things are es- 
sential:— First, Well-bred stock, well-fed. Second— Careful se- 
lection of the sows for breeding. Third— Purchase the very best 
boar obtainable, even though the price seems a little extravagant. 
Fourth— Liberal feeding from start to finish. 

Iowa. 



SUCCULENT FOOD FOR SWINE. 
By Prof. C. S. Plumb. 

AS writer views the matter, the main benefit to be de- 
rived from feeding succulent food to swine, lies in Its 
special influence on the digestive organs. That is, the 
intestinal tract is kept free and open, and the action of the 
secretions is promoted. The use of the succulent food is shown 
in the condition of the coat and skin, and in a lengthening out 
of the body as it were. Pigs fed on corn or other dry food, 
with little attendant moisture, are less expansive in growth, if 
it may be so expressed. For brood sows in particular, succu- 
lent foods are valuable, as they not only favor a stretching oul 
of the body, but they also promote milk secretion, which, of 
course, is very important. Further, where succulent food Is fed 
in connection with grain, a more wholesome appetite will be 
likely to occur. The roots and most succulent foods, in them- 
selves do not contain much nutriment. They contain from 70 to 
90 per cent of water as a rule, the mangel having the latter 
amount. One hundred pounds of most roots contain one pound 
of digestible protein, as compared with about eight pounds of 
protein in 100 pounds of corn. 



14 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

Most western pig feeders are accustomed to pasture pigs on 
clover or rye for some months in the year, and, when doing thl», 
feed but little grain. In such cases, what grain is fed should be 
to cause increased growth, for the pasture ought, at least, in it- 
self, to maintain the body. 

Clover, rye or other grass, roots, artichokes, potatoes or other 
succulent foods are relished, and give good results. 

From time to time the question is asked as to how pigs will 
do on artichokes. There is some diversity of opinion on this 
matter, but generally the reports have been in favor of the arti- 
chokes. At the Purdue Experiment Station we have this "all 
had four Chester White sows about six months of age, confined 
in a small lot entirely grown to artichokes. They were there 
four weeks, during which time they made a total gain of 83 
pounds live weight, or an average of about three-fourths pound 
per day each. The most one of these pigs had per day was 2^/^ 
pounds, which food cost the station about one and one-half cent, 
which allows more than enougli to pay for the artichokes. 

Friends of the writer, who are very extensively raising and 
feeding pigs, having at present 1,600 head, have found that sows 
feeding in an artichoke field, had a growth that was of such 
a satisfactory character, that they increased their area this year 
for that crop to a considerable extent. 

In his work on "Feeds and Feeding" Professor Henry gives 
some interesting results of feeding roots to pigs in Denmark. 
These figures relate to feeding hundreds of animals. In one 
experiment with tw^enty-five pigs, where sugar beets were fed 
seventy days, it was shown that one pound of barley had a feed- 
ing value equal to six to eight pounds of mangels or four to 
eight pounds of fodder beets. In experiments with four kinds 
of mangels or beets and grain fed 204 pigs, such satisfactory 
results were secured as to cause the authorities to conclude that 
about forty per cent of the daily ration of the pig may be ad- 
vantageously made up of roots. The results of the slaughter, 
also showed that the root fed pigs produced a grade of pork of 
a quality fully equal to the grain fed ones. In experiments with 
carrots and mangels, on 803 pigs, divided in 175 lots, it was 
found in the comparison, that these roots contained equal quan- 
tities of dry matter and had similar values in pig feeding. In 
fact the amount of dry matter in the roots is the main factor 
of importance, rather than the amount of sugar or the weight. 
When turnips were compared with whey, and the roots substi- 
tuted in part for the whey, barley and whey gave returns of 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. I5 

1.08 pounds daily per head, while turnips gave only .96 potfnd, 
showing an advantage in favor of the whey. 

At the Wisconsin station, two different experiments have been 
reported on in feeding swine rape. The first trial was on twenty 
Poland China pigs about eight months old. Lot one, of ten 
pigs, was folded in the rape, while lot two was kept in pens 
and fed the same grain as lot one. The plan was to make the 
same relative gain with both lots, but with lot one to replace 
a part of the grain food with rape. The two lots, at the end of 
seventy-six days, had made essentially the same gain, and it 
was shown that lot one ate about one-third of an acre of rape, 
and this saved 710 pounds of corn and 352 pounds shorts, or 
1,062 pounds grain. An acre of rape was in this case worth 
about 3,318 pounds grain. In 1896 a similar experiment was 
conducted at the Wisconsin Station, with Chester White pigs. 
The experiment lasted forty-nine days, during which time lot 
one ate six-tenths of an acre of rape, 886.2 pounds of corn and 
444 pounds shorts, or 1,330.2 pounds less of grain than lot two, 
while making practically the same gain. 

From these two trials it is concluded that one acre of rape is 
equivalent in value to 2,657 pounds of grain in hog feeding. 

Other experiments might be cited to show the value of succu- 
lent food for pigs, but the above sufficiently brings out the fact 
that such food may be fed to advantage from the point of gain. 
To this feature, one must add the great value of this class of 
foods in their influence on the digestive system of the pig, which 
with breeding stock is all important. 

Purdue University. 



A MODEL HOG BARN AND FEED LOT. 

By James Riley. 

IN order to make the business of producing pork profitable, 
we must reduce the labor of feeding hogs to a minimum. 
This I secure by building a hog house and suitable lots so 
the pigs can come to the house for their feed instead of carry- 
ing it to them. My hog house is forty feet long and twenty-four 
feet wide with a hall four feet wide through the center. On 
each side of the hall we have three pens ten feet square. We 
have seven lots containing one acre each. In these lots we 
have grass and shade. The lots are connected with the feed 
pens in the house by a narrow lane four feet wide. The feed 
room is in one corner of the house, 10x14 feet. Our water is 



i6 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLEEA. 



D 



D 



D 



D 



D 




Ground Plan of Hog Barn and Feed I^ots, owned by James Riley, Thornton, Ind. 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



supplied by a spring, and is conveyed through an inch pipe 
under the ground and raised in a three-barrel tank in the feed 
room and from there to two barrels outside the house. 

Our lots are fenced with strong, smooth wire fence that is 
absolutely pig and boar proof. 

The squares in the feeding lots shown in the cut are sleeping 
houses. 



HOW WE MAKE PORK IN WISCONSIN. 
By Thomas Convey. 

TO make pork in Wisconsin we follow methods similar to 
Iowa and Illinois. In the south and west part of the 
state, we can raise just as good corn and as much to the 
acre, and corn is the ideal food for swine with a large majority 
of farmers. On the north and east side of the state they raise 
hogs in limited numbers, and follow eastern methods; raise two 
litters a year from breeding stock, and in many cases feed in 

small yards and pens. 

There are many features of hog 
raising here and elsewhere that I 
consider very faulty. One is the in- 
difference or want of judgment in 
the selection and development of 
breeding stock. As your skillful me- 
chanic insists on having suitable tools 
to work with, so too does the skillful 
feeder expect to better his prospects 
])y selecting the right type of animal. 
Any animal used solely for making 
meat should be thick-flesned, low 
down, broad backed and with a good 
head, the latter indicating a good dis- 
position, which is absolutely neces- 
sary for rapid growth, and as much length of body as it is 
possible to get without unevenness of upper or lower lines. A 
long, round body is not desirable, animals of that kind stand 
on long legs and are always gross feeders and do not give suf- 
ficient returns for food consumed. They are usually rapid grow- 
ers, but of slow maturity and poor quality. 

Another type is represented by "fancy head and ear," as the 
breeders say. We have not yet succeeded in getting a good 
sized horse with a colt's head, nor a good sized hog with that 
type of head and ear. Nice little hogs have become quite num- 




THOMAS CONVEY. 



l8 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

erous, but not so popular as formerly. Some farmers rave about 
coarse bone, meaning the fleshy-legged, soft-jointed variety, that 
are always crippled, rheumatic and out of order, and about as 
useless as the big-legged horses of the west— apparent size, but 
not quality. 

If farmers are anxious to secure more size and corresponding 
quality, they should breed from mature stock, not necessarily 
older, although that is desirable, but more liberally and judi- 
ciously fed, and better grown. They lose their sows at far- 
rowing, because the sow is scarcely more than a weaned pig 
in size. We get all the growth we can from start to finish ou 
foods that are not too concentrated, one-third being corn, the 
rest middlings, milk, roots, peas and oats grown together, and 
grass alwas Y\-hen available, that is when it grows. 

We would not depend on grass alone for a single day, nor 
even grass and milk. Grain, and corn is the best of all grains 
for this purpose, fed on pasture, will give treble the returns 
during the summer season that it would in winter. I have never 
been afraid to feed soaked corn on pasture, and have never 
spoiled breeding stock nor had unhealthy hogs. One-third of 
a winter ration will be sufficient. 

A very wasteful system of feeding is followed on most farms, 
that is scant feeding the greart;er part of the year, and then 
gorging just before marketing. This is especially the case in 
time of low prices, as if it did not take better breeding and bet- 
ter management when prices are low. 

When a hog is not moving forward in growth he is going 
backward, and the food you give is w^orse than thrown away in 
the former case, because you have a stunted pig to start. While 
he may make greater growth on liberal feeding later, he will 
not make as much growth for food consumed, and thait is what 
we are all looking for— economical production. 

We occasionally yet see farmers who are anxious to get the 
fact published that they have marketed the heaviest hogs, mak- 
ing a parade of their folly. Those fellows have evidently not 
learned yet that the last fifty pounds on each hog cost them 
just as much as the last 100 pounds on each of their neighbor's 
lighter hogs. If they get any glory, they pay for it. A case of 
ignorance and bliss. 

Many farmers do not appreciate the necessity of providing 
comfortable quarters for stock. At one of the experiment sta- 
tions, recently, they found it took twenty-five per cent more 
feed in a comparatively mild climate, but where conditions were 
classed as uncomfortable. Again some well-meaning people ab- 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



19 



solutely poison stock with bad air. This is very noticeable in 
the north part of this state. They provide a small pen as nearly 
air-tight as they can get it, fill it with hogs, and malie no pro- 
vision for fresh air. They can not keep the bedding dry. Their 
hogs have coughs, catarrh, rheumatism, etc., and they want to 
know if their hogs have the cholera. 

We hdve found it more desirable to have a pure atmosphere 
than very warm quarters. An abundant supply of dry bedding, 
preferably on a ground floor and no exposure to wind or draught 
in their sleeping quarters, and for sows with pig it should be 
partitioned so they can not bunch up and overlie each other. 

Speaking .of a pure atmosphere, reminds me that I have never 
raised healthy young pigs where there was a disagreeable at- 
mosphere, which is usually the case around old pens with leaky 
floors. This is one of the principal causes of scours, snuffles 
and kindred complaints. 

Many of the experts say, get the young pigs to eat as soon 
as you can. Don't believe it. Have the sow in good condition 
when she farrows; after a week, give her all she will eat and 
feed often, but not to clog her, and don't worry about the 
pigs. When they are determined to have feed at about a 
month old, let them have it gradually at first; later all they 
want. I know nothing better than soaked corn and skim milk, 
except it might be new milk, but I am talking of pork, not 
prize winners, nor hogs that are worth more than their nominal 
owners. 

We never wean pigs, and really don't know anything about it. 
The sow attends to that matter with such skill that the pigs 
don't seem to know when it happens. We use ground feed for 
swill only. Peas and oats are fed whole and raw. Cooking whole 
grain does not pay. Soaking is right for warm weather. Warm 
slop in cool weather is very desirable, in fact necessary for 
young stock. 

We have no respect for the opinion of the hog breeder who 
has to keep a medicine chest for his hogs. He is a quack. Ail- 
ments are usually the result of faulty conditions or diseased 
breeding stock. We always warm slops in winter time and 
cook roots and mix ground feed with them; also milk. We 
throw a common shovelful of ashes in swill every time we feed. 
Of course, pigs need all the salt and fresh water they care for! 
The above quantity of ashes is sufficient for fifty hogs. 

It does not pay to run a farm to corn and hogs at present 
prices, but dairymen can make a limited amount of pork at a 
profit with pork and grain at present prices. 



20 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

There are some farmers here and elsewhere that raise their 
summer pork for family use with current funds. They sell their 
hogs this fall at about three cents to pay for cured meats, they 
eat during the summer at ten to twelve cents. Those are the 
fellows that are howling atxDut bad times. 



THE BACON PIG. 
By Prof. Thomas Shaw. 

THE cry has gone up from nearly all parts of the land 
against the bacon pig. And nowhere has that cry been so 
loud or so fierce as in the corn belt, that place above all 
others where the bacon pig would help to bring healing to the 
great source of disease which is preying so heavily upon the 
swine in so many parts of the country. It is not the first time, 
however, that men have been found resisting what would bring 
them great benefit when the attempt was being made to help 
them. The history of vaccination to prevent the smallpox will 
furnish an instance to sustain the statement just made. Men 
have positively resisted vaccination and its introduction into 
communities in which it has since wrought untold benefit. But 
these were communities in which dense ignorance prevailed. In 
that respect they were very unlike the intelligent men who are 
kicking so hard against the introduction of the bacon pig. And 
this feature of the resistance is its most surprising element. If 
they were ignorent men from whom better things could not be 
expected one would not be so much surprised at their attitude 
in this important matter, but they are the most intelligent class 
of farmers to be found in any country, and this attitude can 
scarcely be attributed to preversity of will, for our American 
farmers are usually among the most reasonable of men. I give 
the problem up. I cannot tell why our bright and thrifty farmers 
should act so much like children in this matter. 

I suppose the simplest answer is that it is a pig which produces 
bacon. I think that is the answer that a school boy would give, 
and I question if it .can be improved upon. If the answer w^ould 
be correct, and I fail to see why it is not, it follows that a ma- 
jority of our swine-growers are not growing the bacon pig. Now 
bacon, as everybody knows, is side meat with fat and lean 
streaks in it. If the lean streaks are absent, then side meat is 
not bacon, it is lard. Now it is the office of lard to melt and 
dissolve away when it is being cooked. If side meat, when 
cooked, has so much lard in it that it nearly all dissolves while 
it is being cooked, it eludes the grasp of the man who wants to 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 21 

eat it. He cannot eat it as bacon. He can only eat it as gravy. 
If that were all, it would not be so bad. But by the action of a 
law which some teachers in the schools call the law of convel- 
lation, if the whole side is fat, that is to say, lard with a little 
tissue holding it in place, there will be much of the same found 
in certain other parts of the animal. The fat as compared with 
the lean in the whole animal is excessive, hence the proportion 
of the lard to the meat is excessive. The evils resulting are 
many. 

First, the object for which pork is grown is so far lost sight 
of. It is grown both for the meat and the lard, but the former 
is the chief end for which it is grown. This end, therefore, is 
measurably unattained when the proportion of lard is excessive, 
and it is attained in proportion as the lean prevails. The aver- 
age consumer prefers meat and especially bacon that is well 
streaked to that so-called bacon which is all fat. And the pref- 
erence is in the interests of health. Meat that is nearly all fat 
or oil is, especially in the summer season, an unhealthful morsel, 
hence the wisdom of trying to grow the bacon pig on the score 
of health in the consumers. 

But, secondly, the health of the pig is also concerned in this 
matter. Excessive obesity is prejudicial to health in man and in 
beast. It disinclines the animal to take sufficient exercise to 
keep the functions of the body in the most vigorous action, hence 
the animal falls an easy prey to various forms of disease, such 
as hog cholera, rheumatism, and breaking down of the limbs. 
Of course this statement is made in the full knowledge of the 
fact that cholera is a germ disease, but even so, the assumption 
win not be questioned that a germ disease will prove less fatal 
in a herd of vigorous swine than in a herd whose vigor has been 
impaired for successive generations by obesity, the outcome of 
improper breeding and feeding. For the sake of the health of 
our swine, therefore, we ought to aim to grow the bacon pig 
rather than the lard pig. 

And, thirdly, the bacon pig is certainly a more vigorous and 
reliable breeder than the lard pig. Of that fact there can be no 
question. The complaint has gone up from all the corn states 
that sows not only frequently fail to breed altogether, but when 
they do breed, they produce small litters, and they do not in many 
instances nourish them well. It could not be otherwise. Obesity 
is unfavorable to procreation, hence if pigs are kept all the time 
in what may be termed a fatty condition, they cannot breed as 
they otherwise would. The dairyman will tell you that there is 
something in conformation in its relation to milk production, and 



22 a?HE HOG AND HOG CHOLEBA. 

SO there is. In that matter the daii-ynian is light. But con- 
formation does not affect milk-giving alone in cows. It affects 
millv-giving in all classes of domestic mammals, and probably no 
less in the sow than in the cow. There is, perhaps, as much 
difference between the milk-giving properties of individual sows 
as between the milk-giving properties of individual cows. And 
It is a fact that cannot be gainsaid, that the very short, thick, 
anti-bacon sow is a poor breeder, and deficient in milk-giving 
qualities in proportion as she conforms to that type. On the other 
hand, sows of the pronounced bacon breeds, as the improved 
Yorkshire and the Tamworth, are "prolific" and good milkers 
wherever they are found. 

My contention is, therefore, that in the light of self-interest, we 
ought to grow pigs of the bacon types, whatsoever the breed. I 
am not in this paper advocating any particular breed, nor am I 
advocating any change of breed, but I am advocating at least 
some modification of types in many of the breeds in this country, 
and I am asking that such modification shall be made in the 
direction of that form which in its essentials is characteristic of 
the bacon pig. 

I may now be asked, and very properly, what are those leading 
essentials of form that indicate bacon quality? I will answer 
this question first positively, and second, negatively. The lead- 
ing essentials in form of a bacon pig are, first, good length and 
depth of body without excessive width. Secondly, limbs strong 
and of medium size. And, third, head and ears and neck of me- 
mium size. That is not a bacon pig which has a very short, 
compact body, a frame broad in proportion to its length, and 
that stands on small and short legs. It is a lard pig. Nor is that 
a bacon pig which is razor-back and grayhound in its build. It 
is a scrub that would soon eat its owner poor. The bacon pig 
is not a hard feeder. It is a pig that will turn its food, not into 
an unhealthy substance that melts away in cooking, but it will 
turn it into good meat. 

But it may be asked, is not the bacon pig a harder feeder than 
the present type of pig? I answer I think he is, but I think not 
a hard feeder. Then the question will naturally follow, should 
we not give the preference to the easiest feeding pigs? I answer 
no, not necessarily. We should give the preference to the pig 
that will bring us the most money. Easy keeping qualities is 
only one consideration. In growing meat, we must take several 
considerations into the account. The standing argument in favor 
of the American hog as he is at present rests upon that one idea 
that he is an easy keeper. But the bacon pig is siiperLor in 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



23 



Stamina, in breeding qualities and in the quality of his meat, and 
be is withal not a hard keeper. Now, put the first named quality 
in the one scale and all the other named qualities in the other 
scale, and tell me candidly which weighs the most? 

Look into tliis question, therefore, of the bacon pig. Do not 
look at it through the eyes of prejudice. It is a great question. 
The reception that we give to it will have an important influence 
on the prosperity of this nation. If the bacon pig is an existence 
that we cannot afford to tolerate, by all means keep it out. But 
if it is a creation that will do us good, let us try to possess it. 
Our American farmers have been singularly sharp to recognize 
a gooil thing when they see it. May they ever retain this com- 
manding quality. 

University of Minnesota, 



HOW WE MAKE BACON IN CANADA. 
By Prof. G. E. Day. 

OP the bacon exported from Canada, the Province of On- 
tario furnishes about ninety per cent. The export bacon 
trade of Canada for the present year will probably 
reach about eight million dollars, a very fair showing, consid- 
ering that the trade is of comparatively recent origin. Though 
there are various kinds of bacon exported, Canada's export 
staple is what is known as "Wiltshire bacon," the greater part 

of which is taken by the city of Lon- 
don. The London market is very 
fastidious and extremely exacting 
in the matter of weight, amount of 
lat, quality, etc., and consequently it 
taxes the skill of the Canadian feed- 
er and packer to satisfy its require- 
ments. If the side of bacon is too 
'loavy, too light, too fat, or too thin, 
r.ondon will have none of it. It is 
not a matter of price, for London 
will not take it at any price. 

For the production of Wiltshire 
sides, hogs should weigh from 170 
pounds to 200 pounds. The fat along 
the back should be from an inch to 
one-and-a-half inches in depth, and even in thickness from tail 
to neck, no "pinching" at the loin nor bulging over the shoulder. 
The meat should be well streaked vjrith lean, and the belly 
meat should be thick. There should . lie good length and depth 







PROF. G. E. DAY. 



24 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

between shoulder and ham. The shoulder should be light, the 
back only medium width, and the ham fleshed well down to the 
hock. The neck should be comparatively light without any arch 
on top, the jowl should be as light as possible, and the bone me- 
dium—not coarse, nor yet so fine as to indicate weakness. The 
true bacon hog is not a "razor back" by any means, but a 
shapely, thrifty, growthy hog, carrying a minimum amount of 
cheap and comparatively worthless material, with a maximum 
amount of high-priced meat. He forms a striking contrast to 
the heavy-jowled, arched-necked, squat-shouldered, short-sided, 
unwieldy masses of lard which delight the hearts of so man.v 
feeders. When a hog with a short, arched neck and heavy- 
shoulder is split down the back, there will invariably be found 
an excessive thickness of fat over the shoulder, and a lack of 
uniformity in the thickness of fat along the back. This defect 
renders it unfit for a number one side, and it must go into a 
cheaper grade. Frequently, though not always, the fat-backed 
hog has a thin belly and a poor development of lean meat. This 
combina^tion is one of the worst imaginable from a bacon stand- 
point, for thick, lean-streaked bacon is not to be found in suca 
an animal. 

It has been thought advisable t-o devote some space to the 
type c2 hog suitable for best export bacon, for without the right 
kind of hog the feeder is powerless. It has been boldly asserted 
by some writers that the production of the bacon hog is entirely 
a question of feeding. It is true that injudicious feeding may 
spoil a good hog, and that skillful feeding may improve a faulty 
type; but the same is true of the dairy cow, yet who would argue 
that selection should be ignored in improving a dairy herd Food 
can do much, but its influence is limited, and it cannot over- 
come individuality. The right kind of hog and the right kind of 
food must be combined in producing number one Wiltshire 
bacon. 

It must not be inferred that we have nothing but the best 
bacon types of hogs in Canada. Practically, all the leading 
breeds are represented. In experiments at the Ontario Argicul- 
tural College during the last three years, where representatives 
of six different breeds have been fed side by side and shipped 
to the factory for examination and criticism, the Yorkshire and 
Tamworths have had rather the best of it. Berkshires have 
come next, while Chester Whites, Duroc Jerseys, and Poland 
Chinas have been quite seriously faulted as producers of export 
bacon. But the best breeds are not without their defects, and 
probably the most satisfactory hog for the average farmer is 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 2$ 

the cross-bred. In this connection, the Yorkshire and TamwOrth 
have been found valuable for modifying the thicker and fatter 
types. 

It is a common belief that the bacon hog is not such an econ- 
omical producer as the fatter, shorter type. This question is 
still under investigation, but up to the present time our ex- 
periments indicate that there is little foundation for the belief. 

As to methods of feeding, practice is extremely varied. A 
point which has caused our packers much trouble and anxiety 
is the number of soft sides which have appeared of late, and 
which seem to be rather on the increase. A soft side is noz 
necessarily a fat one. There seems to be no apparent relation 
between the amount of fat and the firmness of fat. The soft- 
ness developes while the sides are in the salt, and when they 
are taken out. the fat has a soft, spongy feel. This softness 
very seriously detracts from the value of the bacon and means 
a considerable loss, first to the packer, but ultimately to the 
farmer, because the packer will make good this loss when sub- 
sequently fixing prices. Since softness seems to be on the in- 
crease with the increased use of corn, it is commonly believed 
that much of the trouble is due to feeding young pigs too much 
corn. Clover has also been blamed, but experiments up to date 
seem to explode this theory. Investigations regarding corn are 
anything but complete, and it is too soon to speak positively. 
In the light of present knowledge, however, it seems probable 
that corn and careless feeding are largely responsible. 

For young pigs, wheat middlings and shorts with skim milk 
are commonly used, and give excellent results. Whey also 
gives good results if fed carefully with the middlings or shorts, 
but it is well not to commence whey feeding until the pigs are 
between two and three months old. At an early age, Parley 
may be added to the ration with advantage, and hogs finished 
on barley and shorts wiih or without milk and whey may be 
made into first-class bacon. Roots are growing in favor as a part 
of the winter ration, and are fed both raw and cooked. Fed in 
moderation, they are in every way desirable, affording variety 
and acting as regulators. They are found especially beneficial 
where the hogs have little exercise. Many good feeders steam 
the roots for young pigs, and mix them with the meal ration to 
warm it. This plan is a good one, especially in cold weather. 

Much is said about Canadian pea-fed bacon, but in reality 
there are fewer peas fed in Canada than is generally supposed, 
and in many sections, where the peas are badly affected by the 
weevil, the hogs do not know what peas are. Peas, however, 



26 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

make a good quality of bacon, but are most economically fed 
mixed with otlier gra^'us. In fact, the greater the variety of 
foods, the better the chance of producing good quality. 

For summer feeding our farmers are beginning to learn the 
value of clover. Both red clover and alfalfa are used for pas- 
ture, the former being most commonly grown, and in some cases 
vetches are employed for the purpose. This method has proved 
to be an economical way of making bacon, and it has yet to be 
proved that the quality of "clover bacon" is not up to the stand- 
ard. Good results are obtained by feeding a two-thirds meal 
ration while on pasture, and when this plan is followed, it is 
improbable that any evil effects will be noticeable. 

From what has been said it will be seen that there is con- 
siderable lack of uniformity both in breeding and methods of 
feeding hogs in Canada. We have much to learn yet regarding 
bacon production, but our education is steadily progressing, and 
we hope to improve the quality of our product as knowledge 
increases. Our packers still receive a large number of undesir- 
able hogs, but the uumb-er of good hogs is increasing, and will 
no doubt continue to increase. 

To sum up; the production of the best bacon requires intelli- 
gent selection of breeding stock, judicious feeding and exercise 
to develop muscle rather than fat, and marketing hogs at the 
right time, neither too fat and over-weight, nor too light and 
thin. 

Ont. Agr. College, Guelph, Canada, 1898. 



THE BEST MARKET HOG. 
By W. S. Hannah. 

BEFORE the first little pig went to market, or even before 
the domestic pig existed, and long before Chas. Lamb's 
famous roast pig, the kind of pig to grow was a ques- 
tion even in the mind of the earliest inhabitant; but even before 
the pig had a public market value and long before the days of 
packing houses and export trade, the question was settled by 
that famous old couple Jack Sprat who would eat no fat and 
bis wife who would eat no lean. 

Just so, all questions are settled according to the public taste 
or demands, or according to the contents of the purse. 

There are at least three things for the central western hog 
grower to consider in connection with this question, namely: 
the kind of food grown^ the general market demands and t^e 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 7.f 

general surroundings. As to the first of these, there are local- 
ities where the grain grown, either on account of soil and cli- 
mate or from force of habit, would not furnish suitable food to 
grow bacon hogs at all; as a matter of fact, it is doubtful if 
there ever will be much of a chance for the bacon hog in any 
locality in the great corn belt. 

Although the central western packers are large exporters of 
pork product and spend a great deal of money and labor to pro- 
duce cuts of meat to suit the tastes of the foreign trade, and 
although the business of the past few years has been very large, 
the so-called "singer" and "bacon" hog have not been sold at 
a premium over the heavy, well-fatted "lard" hog as regularly 
as for some seasons several years ago, and as a consequence 
there has been little or no Inducement to the farmer to pay par- 
ticular attention to raising anything but just "plain" hogs and 
unless the packers of this section show more desire for "sing- 
ers," by paying a sharp premium for them, it is doubtful if our 
western hog growers care to abandon com raising for the grow- 
ing of unfamiliar products. 

The usual farmer is a conservative individual and is not much 
given to experiments, so the son follows in the father's footsteps, 
growing the same crops the father grew and raising the same 
kind of stock the father raised; if he moves to a new country he 
must either take up with the farming customs he finds there, 
if they differ from what he has been used to, or experiment at 
a loss, to finally fall in with his neighbors and profit by their ex- 
perience. This idea of conservatism is not confined to farmers 
alone but is inherent with all men, and not only accounts for the 
clinging to old forms and methods in all business, but paradox- 
ical as it may seem, is at once the basis of shiftlessness and the 
balance wheel of commerce. Let me illustrate. One season a 
hog raiser comes to market with a prime load of 350 pound bar- 
rows on which he has spent a great deal- of time and to which 
he has fed a large com crop; he finds that instead of topping 
the market, as he had naturally expected, that a little, thin 
"slab-sided yorker" outsells his hogs twenty-five cents. If he 
has not investigated before, he commences to inquire Into the 
reason for this and finds that at that particular time there is a 
large demand for a light supply of such hogs to meet the require- 
ments for home bacon and certain cuts for foreign trade. He 
goes home with the determination to meet the requirements the 
next time, and comes to market with unfinished hogs to find 
that well-fatted hogs weighing 250 pounds and over are at a 
premium instead of the bacon hog; it is this sort of thing that 



28 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

disgusts the hog raiser and encourages carelessness on the farm- 
er's part in making the most of the conditions, 

I have seen many such cases and know that these are the 
conditions under the present uncertain demand for the so-called 
"bacon" hog, and until such demand is made more regular and 
definite by those who have it in their power to regulate it I do 
not see how the farmers of this section can be expected to give 
particular time and attention to anything but the old-fashioned 
way of developing hogs for market. But once let them be shown 
that there is a steady demand for this particular class of hogs 
and the country will furnish them. 

They will take pains to raise just the kind of food needed and 
to make all things count in the development of the pig from the 
litter. 

Let the farmer know what is wanted and what is needed and 
show him the progressive machinery and he will furnish the 
balance wheel. 

The trouble now is there is too much of a tendency to con- 
sider a pig as an animal unworthy special attention, and so he 
is turned loose to "root hog or die," and as a consequence he 
makes a poor showing, specially if his nose is adorned with 
jewelry or slitted in the old-fashioned way. The pig does the 
best he can, and as the farmer has been used to taking just 
about so much time to market him, he is not thought worthy of 
development in his young days. 

Experience teaches that it costs more per pound to put on the 
third 100 pounds than either of the two previous 100 pounds; if, 
then, pigs were marketed oftener at around 200 pounds or less 
it would certainly be more economical to do it, providing the de- 
mand for such weights could be more regularly maintained. 

Our English and Canadian friends smile at our cuts of hog 
product in comparison with theirs at around twenty-five per 
cent less in price. But the question here is, can we not afford 
to sell for much less with our cheaper land and crops and whole- 
sale ways of feeding and marketing? 

But suppose our packers should say to our farmers, "We want 
to complete with the Canadian, English, Irish and Danish 
meats in England; ship in your hogs to meet our requirements." 
Why. then, could not our packers obtain just as good prices as 
the others and afford to pay the country in the open market 
higher prices for grades of hogs to meet the needs? 

At the present time the heavy, well-fatted hogs are in most 
demand, but to meet the general requirements of the past few 
years all the year around good quality barrows or sprayed sows 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 2^ 

well finished and weighing from- 230 ponnds to 270 pounds are 
in most demand. 

As to breeds: they all have their friends; the admirers of the 
Poland-China are just as firm in their belief in their value as 
the adherents of the Berkshire, Chester White or Duroc-Jersey, 
but at the present the Poland seems to have the lead, or, rather, 
is more plentiful; however, a full load of either grade of proper 
weight and flesh will top the market any time. 

Although killing qualities count in hogs as with other live 
stock, there is just as much prejudice in favor of nice appear- 
ance as with cattle, and it always pays to make the best possi- 
ble show of a consignment of hogs on the market by having 
them as even in size and flesh as can be. 

The farmer wants to secure the greatest amount of gain pos- 
sible for the feed he uses, and where impracticable to raise 
thoroughbred hogs of any grade I would suggest the cross of 
Berkshire and Polands or Duroc-Jersey and Polands, as both are 
good gainers and sellers on any market. And no matter what 
kind of sows you have always procure the best boar possible. 

What shall be done with old rough-bellied sows, is a question 
to trouble a good many hog raisers. Do not run them to market 
half-fat as soon as they are "bred out," as they hurt the sale 
of other hogs with which they are shipped or sell for a mean 
price when disposed of on their merits. Fatten them the best 
you can and cover up their roughness before you dispose of 
them. 

To sum up, let me say, under existing circumstances, that it 
is impracticable to raise the Tamworth or any other breed of so- 
called "bacon hog" or grow any particular crop for the develop- 
ment of this class of hog; but make the most of the breeds as 
found by finishing them to 230 pounds to 270 pounds as early 
in life as possible, and it will be found, if economically handled, 
that there is money in hogs. 

Hogs marketed when fat and not held for a rise in the mar- 
ket a^re good mortgage raisers, or what is better, a preventive 
of the best type 
Kansas City. 



—The old system of keeping pigs in the pen from weaning to 
butchering time has given way to the more healthful and cheaper 
way of allowing them the run of a lot during the greater part of 
this time. The clover lot is an important factor in pig growing. 
While on clover the pigs should have an allowance of grain. 



30 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

THE HOO THE PACKER WANTS. 

By Louis F. Swift. 

NO animal has done more to lift mortgages and convert 
cheap farm products into ready money than the hog. 
He will grow and give a pretty good account of himself, 
even if treated upon the "root hog or die" plan, and yet no ani- 
mal responds more quickly to careful, intelligent and common 
stnse treatment. Through over-refinement in breeding, or in- 
judicious use of too-concentrated or improper food, he some- 
thues comes to grief and rushes pell-mell over the cliff into the 
sea of hog cholera, as it were, as if he was really possessed 
with evil spirits, but with whatever shortcomings he may have, 
he is truly one of the best and most available money-makers 
for the average farmer. For that reason, a careful study of the 
hog and his treatment is well worth while. 

The plan of the editor of the "National Rural and Family 
Magazine" to bring this matter to the attention of farmers is 
commendable, and I am glad to answer as best I may his 
practical questions as to the best and most profitable conditions 
for marketing this valuable food-animal. 

In answering the question, "What weight of hog usually com- 
mands the highest prices, and why?" I should say from 175 to 
250 pounds. Such hogs yield a larger percentage of high-priced 
meat— they are not too fat. 

In a general way this answer will also apply equally well to 
the question, "What weight of hog is in greatest demand by 
packers, and why?" although there are times when special cuts 
are wanted, or, for instance, when lard is scarce and high, that 
heavier and fatter hogs will command a premium. Then, again, 
there is always a demand for 170 to 190-pound hogs suitable for 
making the best bacon. Such hogs sell at top prices even when 
the general average weights are running heavy. 

A most affirmative yes can be given to the question, "In buy- 
ing hogs, do you inquire how they have been fed, or upon what 
kind of food; and does the kind of food upon which they have 
been fatted affect the price, other things being equal?" Wheat 
or corn-fed hogs bring the best prices. Hogs fed on soft food 
are discriminated against, and those fed only upon nuts and 
mast are oily and undesirable. 

In replying to the question, "What breed of hogs do you pre- 
fer, if you have any preference, and why?" will state that Swift 
and Company prefer Berkshire and Poland Chinas because they 
yield the largest percentage of high-priced products. On the 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 3 1 

other hand the Yorkshim and Tamworths are more favorably 
regarded in Canada and abroad, where the English bacon trade 
is catered to. 

The question, "Have you any preference as between the black 
and white hog? If so, why?' has an element of business senti- 
ment back of it. Butchers who purchase v/hole carcasses prefer 
white hogs; they are more attractive for display. But for pack- 
ing purposes no preference is shown. The black hog is as de- 
sirable as the white animal. 

The question, "Is there a sufficient demand for the bacon hog, 
such as is produced in Canada, Ireland or Denmark for the 
English market, to warrant an increase in the production of such 
hogs by the American farmers?" calls for a more extended 
answer. There is a sufficient demand for bacon hogs. The 
English market each year uses a large and increasing amount 
of a superior quality of bacon. In the main it is supplied by 
home-curing and by importations from Ireland, Denmark and 
Canada. This bacon cannot be made from the ordinary Ameri- 
can type of hog, nor can it be made from light hogs, young or 
otherwise, of the breeds we have in general use. Light hoga of 
course make light bacon, and there is occasionally a demand Cor 
light bacon that makes light hogs sell at a premium, but Vt 
must not be supposed that these light hogs are made into the 
class of bacon that the English market wants at fancy prices. 

If our farmers would produce a bacon-type of hog, using those 
breeds that furnish this product in Ireland, Denmark, or Canada, 
and what is still more important, feed and breed for bacon, 
they could produce it at a profit and still at a price which would 
enable American packers to supply the fine bacon to the English 
market. 

For such a type of hog the packer could and would pay a 
higher price than for the ordinary hog. A good deal of misap- 
prehension on this point exists because light bogs do not always 
command a premium. As before shown, the fact that a hog is 
light is not evidence that he will make the high grade bacon 
wanted. In fact, light hogs such as we get now are used sim- 
ply to make light bacon for ordinary use, and such bacon does 
not always command any premium over the heavier sorts. When 
it does the packers pay more for this class of hogs; when it 
does not they pay less, because the balance of the hog is less 
profitable. 

Another point to be understood is that no packer can afford 
to undertake to supply any special grade of meat unless he is 
sure that he can secure a steady and sufficient supply of the raw 



32 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

material. Unless there are enough bacon hogs to insure this 
sutlicieut supply it is not reasonable to expect them to command 
the price they would if the packer knew it was safe to notify 
his customers abroad that he would furnish them the bacon 
wanted in any quantity and for delivery at any forward time 
named. 

When asked whether "the bacon hog can be as profitably or 
more profitably produced by farmers in the corn belt than the 
common American hog?" I can only answer that this is a ques- 
tion depending altogether upon local conditions. The man who 
fats his hogs as part of his cattle-feeding, using them to utilize 
the droppings, cannot grow a bacon-hog at all. Whenever the 
daily receipts show a satisfactory percentage of true bacon-hogs 
they will command a substantial premium. The question of 
Vv'hether that premium will be enough to offset increased cost 
of production will be settled by each individual for himself. We 
believe that the man who devotes his attention intelligently to 
the production of the bacon hog will get more money for his 
w^ork than the ordinary hog raiser. 

The question of the corn-belt cuts little figure, as an exclu- 
sive corn-feed will not make the quality of meat wanted. Corn 
can be only one element in the food. The Canadians use largely 
peas, barley, oats, wheat-bran, and shorts. The need is for a 
food that will form a large percentage of lean meat, and corn 
furnishes fat and heat. 

The question, "From your experience as packers and market- 
ers of pork, what suggestions have you to make to the hog rais- 
ers as to what is the most desirable hog for market and how 
should it be made?" is most important. 

I advise farmers to market younger hogs— hogs that mature 
at about six months of age, and weigh from 175 to 250 pounds. 
A painstaking, successful Lowa farmer, who aims to mature 
and market his hogs at six to seven months, w^eighing 220 to 230 
pounds, says experience has taught him that with corn worth 
25 cents per bushel the first one hundred pounds of hog cost 
him $2.00, the second $2.75, the third $3.50. and the last hundred 
pounds of a four-hundred-pound hog, $4.25. This in view of the 
fact that as a rule the 175 to 230-pound hogs are in best demand, 
ar.d consequently sell at best prices, added to the tied-up capi- 
tal and greater danger from disease, by holding hogs to make 
them heavier, makes a powerful argument for early maturity. 

If a feeder had unfinished cattle, and could not replace his 230 
pound hogs with shoats, it might pay to hold longer; but cir- 
cumstances always alter cases. As a rule Americans seem to 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 33 

lack confidence in their ability- to produce the best. It is not s«: 
witli people in some other countries. In England nothing ever 
quite equals home production. They pay more per pound for 
home-grown beef than for American beef, but only when the 
latter is labeled. Sold strictly on its merit as beef, the Ameri- 
can product always wins its way with the best judges, and I 
think it will be so with our hog products. If our farmers were 
in Canada, it would be wise for them to do as the Canadians do, 
and vice versa. We must work our own problems in our own 
way. We believe that American farmers can make the most 
money, and produce the finest hogs in the world, by using, say, 
the bone and muscle-making grains upon grass until the pig 
weighs about 75 pounds, and then carefully bringing him to early 
maturity on good, sound Indian corn. 
Chicago. 



THE HOO CHOLERA QUESTION. 
By Dr. D. E. Salmon. 

THE great losses from the contagious diseases of swine 
early attracted the attention of the Department of Agri- 
culture and of Congress, and an appropriation for the 
purposes of the investigation was made in 1878, with annual 
provisions for continuing this investigation until the present 
time. Two diseases, closely resembling each other, yet caused 
by distinct germs, and frequently both affecting an animal at 
the same time, have been recognized. The question of formulat- 
ing practical measures for controlling these diseases has been 
as difficult as it is important. While most prevalent in the great 
corn-producing states, the diseases have been carried to all 
parts of the country; and. therefore, any regulations to be effec- 
tive must be enforced over a wide extent of territory, and would 
be correspondingly expensive. The losses have, however, been 
tremendous, being placed by some as high as $100,000,000 a year; 
an estimate which does not appear exaggerated in the light vt 
the careful inquiries in the state of Iowa, from w^hich it was 
concluded that this one state lost from $12,000,000 to $15,000,000 
worth of swine in a single year. 

The scientific investigations relating to this subject have been 
persistent, careful, and comprehensive, and the problems that 
are to be met have been very clearly defined. Passing over the 
details of these investigations for the sake of brevity, the efforts 
now being made will alone be discussed. There are but two 
methods of control which, from our present knowledge of tfie 



34 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



contagious diseases of swine, appear to promise adequate re- 
sults. One is the old stamping-out method, the slaughter of 
diseased and exposed animals, the quarantine of infected farms, 
the regulation of transportation, and the disinfection of stocii 
cars, stock pens, infected farms, and all other places harboring 
the contagion. The other is the treatment of diseased and ex- 
posed animals with antitoxic serum. Both of these methods 
have been tried to a limited extent during the past year. 

The stamping-out method is attended by many difficulties 
and limitations. Farmers often object to the slaughter of ex- 
posed animals which are still healthy, unless paid more tnan tne 
animals are worth, and they are unwilling to have their breed- 
ing stocli killed so long as there is a chance of saving a part 
of it. On the other hand, it is embarrassing, if not impossible, 
for Government officials to utilize in any way the carcasses of 
exposed animals which have not yet developed symptoms of 
disease, and to destroy these adds largely to the expense. Again, 
it is next to impossible to control transportation and the dis- 
infection of cars so as to prevent constant reinfection. The 
disinfection of farms is also a troublesome matter, as the germ 
of hog cholera has great vitality, and is able to maintain its 
existence and virulence in the soil, in moist organic matter, and 
even in water, for several months. Finally, the wide distribu- 
tion of the disease, the ease with which the contagion is carried, 
the numerous agencies which contribute to its spread, are all 
elements which increase the gravity of the problem and militate 
against the success of the sta.mping-out method. 

The use of antitoxic serum appears at present to be a much 
more promising method of diminishing the losses, and it is pos- 
sible that it may be combined with sanitary regulations, such as 
quarantine of infected herds, disinfection of premises, and super- 
vision of transportation, so as to give the advantages of the 
stamping-out method while avoiding many of its embarrass- 
ments. The most important point is, of course, to secure a 
serum wijth a high protective and curative power. This is by 
no means an easy task. The products of the hog cholera germ 
are very irritating, and when injected into the tissues their ten- 
dency is to cause paralysis and death of the part, with the for- 
mation of large abscesses. The intense local action hinders the 
absorption of the cultures into the general circulation and pre- 
vents the animal from acquiring immunity. It is doubtless for 
this reason that the inoculation of swine has generally failed to 
give the necessary degree of protection and that inoculated swine 
are found to contract cholera when they are afterwards exposed. 



I'HE HOG AND HOG CHOl-BRA. 35 

The serum produced iu 1897, when used in affected herds, 
saved over SO per cent of the animals. During the past few- 
months the methods have been considerably improved, and it 
appears probable that a serum of higher efficiency will be the 
result. There is no danger connected with the use of this 
serum, as it is absolutely free from the germs of the disease. 
It is easily applied, and the good effects in sick hogs are seen 
almost immediately. There is every reason to believe, there- 
fore, that we have in this serum a practicable method of pre- 
venting the greater part of the losses from hog cholera, but it 
must be tested upon a larger scale before absolute assurance 
can be given. It is hoped that all doubts may be cleared up by 
the experiments planned for 1898.— Fourteenth Annual Report of 
Bureau of Animal Industry. 

HOG CHOLERA. 
By Prof. W. B. Niles. 

SO much has been said and written on this subject that any- 
thing more may to some seem superfluous, but as long 
as this disease continues to cause such extensive losses 
in the swine growing states, without effective means of control, 
an intelligent discussion of this subject is in order at all times. 
In this brief article, I will discuss the subject under the follow- 
ing heads: 1. Nature of the disease. 2. Causes and how com- 
municated. 3. Some popular theories. 4. Means of control. 

1. Nature of the disease. It has been definitely determined 
that there are two widespread diseases of swine— hog cholera 
and swine plague, but they are so frequently associated in the 
same herd that they may be described together, under the term 
hog cholera. This is known to all swine breeders as a wide- 
spread affection that ravages their herds, usually in late summer 
and fall, and then gradually dies out in the neighborhood until 
the succeeding season, when it may appear again in the same or 
adjoining neighborhoods. By all, it is recognized as a highly 
fatal trouble, from which few recover and which few fail to 
contract when exposed. 

In virulent outbreaks, by far the greater number are of this 
kind, not more than one-fourth to one-fifth of the herds survive. 
So similar is the disease to typhoid fever in man, that many ob- 
servers have thought the two affections identical. In the most 
typical outbreaks of the disease, the symptoms are so marked 
and indicate so plainly the nature of the trouble, that the diag- 
nosis is easy. The drooping ears, failure of appetite, gaunt ap- 



36 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

pearance, unsteady gait, redness of the skin under the abdomen 
and between the legs, with diarrhoea, can indicate nothing but 
cholera; but very frequently the most characteristic symptoms 
are absent. The disease, so mild at first that the experienced 
observer may not even suspect cholera. I wish to emphasize 
the fact that one herd may present entirely different symptoms 
from another herd having the same disease. The presence of 
swine plague complicates matters somewhat, but even in a 
purely cholera outbreak there is much variance in symptoms. 
Sometimes there is diarrhoea and at others costiveness. Many 
other differences might be pointed out, but the above are suffi- 
cient to show that affected herds present very different appear- 
ances. I wish to repeat the statement that I have made before, 
and that is, that whenever a number of swine die in a herd and 
apparently the same trouble occurs on neighboring farms, that 
the disease is either hog cholera, swine plague, <*r both. As the 
symptoms are so misleading, an examination of one or more 
that have died should be made. In hog cholera small ulcers 
will be found on the mucous membrane of the calcum— first part 
of the large gut near the entrance of the small intestine into it. 
If the animal has been sick several days these will show plainly. 
In addition, the spleen is large and kidneys covered with red 
spots. In swine plague, there is liquid in the chest cavity and 
pneumonia of one or both lungs. It is very essential that the 
true nature of the disease be recognized early. 

CAUSES AND HOW COMMUNICATED. 

As is the case with other contagious diseases, hog cholera is 
due to the action of a specific virus. In order to start a cholera 
outbreak this virus must be present. No system of feeding or 
management will alone originate the disease. 

There has been much discussion about what may be called 
secondary causes, such as bad sanitation, feeding too much corn, 
feeding new corn, the influence of breed, etc., etc. Many writers 
have held to the opinion that while there is such a germ as the 
hog cholera bacillus, that the hog must in some way be made 
susceptible to this germ before disease will result. They usually 
assert that this susceptibility is brought about by improper man- 
agement, feeding, etc. While we all admit that some animals 
are more susceptible to disease than others, I must again assert, 
as I did in bulletin No. 35 of the Iowa Experiment Station, that 
while there are factors in operation that to a limited extent make 
swine more susceptible to cholera and have much to do in 
spreading the disease when once started in a neighborhood, none 
of them will cause an outbreak without the specific germ. On 
the other hand, the virus may be, and usually is, suflJciently 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. V 

virulent to cause a fatal outbreak in the most vigorous and well 
kept herd. Repeated observations more firmly convince the 
writer that predisposing or secondary causes are seldom if ever 
important in starting cholera outbreaks. When, however, the 
disease has appeared, careless feeding, bad sanitation, etc., will 
increase the ravages in the herd. 

A careful study of the different sources of infection shows 
that the disease is commanicated in a large per cent of out- 
breaks by a diseased hog. In tue careless purchase of swine an 
actually diseased or exposed animal is secured along with the 
rest, and an outbreak results. Tigs from a diseased herd wander 
to the neighbors, and in this way the disease often extends over 
a neighborhood. The practice of allowing hogs to run at large 
is accountable for the spread of the disease in many sections. 
Dogs feeding on carcasses that have not been disposed of may 
convey the disease to other farms; and the same may be said of 
carrion birds. Men, wagons and teams in going from infected 
pens into yards containing healthy herds may also convey the 
disease. Streams of water passing through infected yards and 
pastures may and frequently do convey the disease to herds 
along the stream below. Other sources might be mentioned. 

Dr. Bitting, of the Indiana Experiment Station, has given much 
prominence to streams of water as conveyers of the disease. It 
is true that diseases may be extended in this way, but streams 
of water are not necessary for the spread of the disease. My 
observation has shown that the disease may extend across a 
township by simply extending along the highway from farm to 
farm. I have in mind several neighborhoods where the disease 
has extended along the public road from farm to farm without 
the farms on parallel roads one mile away becoming involved. 
This shows that the germ is carried along the lines of traffic 
either by the diseased hogs or by men and animals passing from 
farm to farm. It is very evident then that the disease being due 
to a specific virus is communicated by this virus' being carried 
from place to place in the w^ays referred to. 

SOME POPULAR THEORIES. 

A veteran swine breeder said to me the other day, "Advance 
any theory and all will cite facts in opposition to it." This re- 
mark shows that he knows much more about cholera than many 
who have written concerning it. 

The theory that the disease ravages the herds of the corn- 
growing states because too much corn is fed is not correct, as a 
careful study of the facts in the case will show. The theory 
that feeding new oorn causes the disease has no facts to sup- 
port it and is in no sense true. The theories that breed has 



^8 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

much to do with the prevalence of swine diseases has also been 
proven incorrect, as has the one that bad sanitation may start 
an outbreak. In short, any theory inconsistent with the facts 
set forth above is incorrect, and a discussio/i of it only leads to 
confusion. 

Any stock-owner who works on any other theory than that 
the disease is due to a specific virus which is in some way con- 
veyed from herd to herd and who would endeavor to protect his 
herd in any other way than by excluding this specific germ, 
makes a fatal error. 

MEANS OF CONTEOL. 

A consideration of what has gone before leads up to the ques- 
tion. How can the disease be controlled? How can these ex- 
tensive losses be prevented? Treatment of the sick or of the 
entire herd after the disease appears, has so far been unsuccess- 
ful. It is true that very many preparations are advertised as 
cure-alls, but not one of these has stood a careful test. This 
failure to check the disease by means of medicines is now more 
generally recognized than heretofore; the hopelessness of treat- 
ment I believe has become generally recognized. 

It does not seem reasonable to the writer to suppose that any 
preparation can cure a hog badly diseased with cholera or swine 
plague. Typhoid fever is incurable in its virulent form, and all 
know of the fatalities in our large army camps during the sum- 
mer of 1898. 

So far, no medicine has been found that will render swine im- 
mune against cholera. Failing to cure the sick, or render the 
well immune against the cholera germ, it is then evident that 
the herd must be kept from being exposed. With our present 
laws and regulations this is not easy. Without the aid of san- 
itary regulations strictly enforced by the state or general gov- 
ernment the individual owner can only to a limited extent pro- 
tect his herd. Of course by isolating it from all ethers and 
using the utmost care to prevent communication with diseased 
herds, he may escape a visitation of cholera. There is much to 
be said in favor of government or state control of cholera by 
means of quarantine of infected herds and premises. For ex- 
ample, in spring and early summer there are but few cholera 
centers in a given county. In a county where I have recently 
made some observations, there was in the spring not more than 
a half-dozen farms in different parts of the county where cholera 
existed. A rigid quarantine of these farms would certainly have 
prevented the widespread outbreaks that came from the primary 
centers. Just as long, however, as free communication is al- 
lowed between infected and uninfected herds and the owner has 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 39 

to rely on his own efforts, the disease will extend over the 
county from the primary centers. 

The state of Minnesota is attempting state control with seem- 
ingly good results. Recently the serum treatment as applied to 
some other diseases has been tried in connection with hog chol- 
era, and this season the Bureau of Animal Industry is making a 
careful study of this method. Dr. Peters of the Nebraska Ex- 
periment Station is also working along this line. So far, the 
results have been promising, but it is yet too early to determine 
the value of this treatment. If the use of the serum will cure 
the mild cases, or even render those unaffected proof against 
the disease, it will very greatly assist in controlling the disease. 
Should the serum treatment come up to expectations, its use in 
connection with quarantine measures would enable us, in the 
opinion of the writer, to effectually control this very widespread 
and fatal disease of swine. Granting that we will come into 
possession of a specific remedy, I consider the quarantine meas- 
ures will still be needed, for it is certainly easier to nip the 
disease in the bud where it breaks out than to treat all the hogs 
in a district. 

Until some systematic method for dealing with this disease is 
inaugurated, the problem will continue to vez us. 

Ames, Iowa. 

^^»^ 

FOURTEEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE WITH HOG 
CHOLERA. 

By Will Manning. 

MOST farmers, like business men, are selfish and keep 
trade secrets. What is really required among farm- 
ers is more harmony, confidence in one another, 
and willingness to help the under dog in the fight for bread. 

In the year 1884 I was feeding one hundred head of hogs, be- 
sides fifty stock hogs. Just before oat harvest, the stock hogs 
got in the oat field. They were driven out, but with a great deal 
of trouble. Some of the hogs were overheated and laid down 
in a pond, where some of them died and were left unburied. 
Buzzards were attracted. Within ten days I had the first case 
of hog cholera in the county. 

I was away when this happened; on arriving home, found six- 
teen dead hogs, all stockers. The balance of the herd were 
nearly all sick, including those that I was feeding. 

I had to save the hogs or break up. "A drowning man will 
catch at a straw," and having followed the old saw, "a stitch 



40 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

in time saves nine," I had procured a hog cholera receipt, not 
expecting ever to have the disease on the farm. 

I had a hog hospital and worked day and night. Did not 
lose another hog in the lot. Cured hogs that were so bad that 
they could neither kick nor squeal. As the disease was new at 
that time, the neighbors gathered in to see me "cure dead hogs." 
From that day to this, have never lost a hog with cholera, but 
have never as yet, with the exception of a few cases, tried out- 
side of my own hogs. 

My great aim has been to find out what hog cholera is, Its 
cause and cure. As yet, have never found anyone that agreed 
with me, but can prove that my theory is correct and stands 
to reason. Typhoid fever in the human family and hog cholera 
are one and the same diseases, but hogs have the disease in a 
more violent form. Have known cats to die with it, and studied 
the progress of the disease in them until dead. Chicken cholera 
is one and the same disease. Rats have it, but not in a violent 
form. 

Through the last source the disease breaks out in unexpected 
places, as the rats will leave the germs of disease in the corn:— 
the good wife feeds this corn to her chickens; the farmer starts 
his hogs on the old corn. As before stated, typhoid fever and 
hog cholera are the same. Have known the fever to go through 
an entire family; anyone visiting them during such sickness 
will carry the disease in their clothes; now let them go among a 
lot of hogs, the chances are ten to one the cholera will break 
out in that drove, as the hog is more susceptible to the disease 
than any other creature. If a man is in perfect health, he will 
throw off the disease; not so with the hog. The first great es- 
sential thing is cleanliness in the hog, as well as in the human 
family. Take a hog with typhoid fever, as I call it, and treat 
him the same as joii would father, mother, sister or brother for 
the same disease, and the chances are that he will get well. As 
this is impossible, a different course is determined on. 

As the old adage says, "An ounce of prevention is better than 
a pound of cure.'" 

In cases of typhoid fever, bury all excrement from patient, 
kill and cremate all sick cats, rats and chickens. If you start 
to feed old corn to hogs, soak the corn in a solution >of copperas 
water. Let the hogs have free access to charcoal— by so doing 
you will save one-fourth of your corn. 

The cure for hog cholera.— 2 pounds copperas; 2 pounds sul- 
phur; 5 pounds charcoal; 4 ounces gentian; 4 ounces black an.- 
timony. Powdered and mixed. 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



41 



iDose.— Tablespoonful three times a day in slop or ground feed 
as a preventive. 

If too sick to eat, throw hog on back, put a strap around under 
jaw, with spoon put medicine down throat. Will warrant this, 
if properly done, to cure eight out of ten sick hogs. 

If s-ow is with pig, the chances are that she will die. If she 
does not, she will lose her pigs, and will be of no value as a 
brood sow afterwards. The successful business man guards 
against every contingency, so must the farmer watch every 
nook and corner and trust the Lord for the increase. 

Indiana. 



WHAT W^E HAVE LEARNED ABOUT HOO CHOLERA. 



T" 



By Prof. A. W. Bitting. 

HE contagious diseases of swine, hog cholera and swine 
■ . plague, were exhaustively studied a few years ago. The 
-■- Bureau of Animal Industry, one or two of the experi- 
ment stations, notably Nebraska, and a few individuals made ex- 
tensive researches upon these diseases. No time or expense 
was spared, and some of the best pathologists in the country 
contributed their skill in the study. 

The germs of hog cholera and 
swine plague were discovered and 
studied under all conditions, how 
they are distributed, how they find 
their way into the body, what effect 
they have upon the animal, the symp- 
toms produced and the postmorteju 
appearance. In fact, everything per- 
taining to the cause of the disease 
and the appearance of the diseases 
were carefully worked out and fully 
described. All the work that has 
been done since has added but little 
new informtion. The whole story of 
the work and how it was conducted 
is to be found in two most interest- 
ing reports from the Bureau of Animal Industry. The story has 
been repeated so often in the newspapers that it will not be 
repeated here. 

The work at that time gave no remedy which would cure the 
disease, and the recommendations for prevention, while theo- 
retically correct, if all the facts as to the cause are known, are 




PROF. A. W. BITTING. 



^2 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

impractical in application. What we have learned recently in 
treatment or prevention has added very little of any conse- 
quence. 

From a practical standpoint we are little better off now than 
before the studies were made. I do not mean to underestimate 
the work that has been done. It is of the greatest importance 
to us. It is essential that we know the cause and effect of a 
disease if we are t-o employ rational methods for prevention and 
treatment. That which has been done is the foundation for 
future work. What I do mean to say is, that if the losses in 
the United States aggregated $50,000,000 in 1890 and the same 
conditions existed for causing a similar loss in 1898, we could 
not materially decrease that loss. 

One of the failings among scientists is that they become in- 
tensely interested in the cause of a disease and its effects upon 
the body, but apparently care little about the prevention or 
treatment. They are willing to study the germ under every con- 
ceivable condition, the products which it forms, how it acts 
upon the body, the symptoms of the disease and how to make 
a positive diagnosis, and are then willing to stop. That seems 
to be the condition in regard to this disease. What is needed 
now is an expenditure of an equal amount of energy and 
funds in a study of practical method of control and treat- 
ment as was used in the study of the cause and pathology. Such 
a study may give us means of relief or give us the reas-on why 
nothing can be done. Much has already been done, but not 
enough. 

We advise sanitary measures as a prevention of the diseases. 
This is undoubtedly the best advice that can be given at pres- 
ent, but is much easier said than done. If all were to adopt such 
measures, undoubtedly there would be a decrease in disease, 
but it is visionary to suppose that a strict enforcement of san- 
itary regulations can be carried out over such a wide area of 
territory as is covered by these diseases. The application of 
sanitary principles to herd management is the best preventive 
the individual can use, but everyone with experience knows that 
the disease often breaks out on farms where the conditions 
could not be improved and under circumstances that lead us to 
suspect that there are factors in the distribution of the disease 
which we know nothing about. 

There is a strong clamor for state police control over these 
diseases. To what extent such control could be exercised is 
not by any means a settled question. The government has made 
one small attempt at police control in Page county, Iowa. Some 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 43 

unofficial announcements have been made that the results more 
than justify the expenditure. Plainly stated, the experiment 
was too small and conducted for too short a time to warrant 
drawing any conclusion. Such an experiment should be carried 
over a period of at least four or five years before a conclusion 
is reached. Minnesota has made a systematic effort to limit 
the spread of the disease, and seems to have met with a fair de- 
gree of success, but her problem is very different from that in 
Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. Her experience is of short duration, 
and can not be regarded as having much significance in what 
might be accomplished in other states. England has been mak- 
ing an attempt to stamp out the disease. But with all the In- 
spection she has exercised this year the disease is making an 
increase in the number of outbreaks and the number of hogs 
attacked over that of last year. 

Even in such a fundamental matter as the transportation 
there is not an agreement of opinion as to what should be done. 
Theoretically, no diseased or exposed hogs should be transport- 
ed, because of the danger in disseminating the disease. Prac- 
tically, we find that the shipping of hogs from central stock 
yards to the country for feeding purposes is almost universally 
attended with great loss and a dissemination of the disease 
and should be stopped. If, however, the transportation of hogs 
from a cholera infected region were prohibited, it would mean 
the loss of large numbers of hogs and prolong the period of In- 
fection. How much infection is spread by transportation com- 
panies other than the delivery of hogs for feeding purposes is 
not known. I am inclined to think that it is greatly overes- 
timated. After five years' inquiry, I have been unable to find 
more cholera along the lines of railroad than at a distance of 
two miles. 

When everything is summed up, we have nothing to guide 
us as to the extent to which state control can be economically 
applied. 

Inoculatoin for the prevention of the disease was extensively 
tried and failed. Now a serum treatment is being tried, and 
the preliminary experiments have proved successful. What the 
result will be at the close of this year's experiments can not be 
foretold. If it should prove a success, it will not have the prac- 
tical value that many expect. The serum is obtained by the in- 
oculation of horses or other animals, and producing immunity. 
When they have become Immune, they are bled and the clear 
part of the blood is used for the treatment of the hog. Neces- 
sarily the product is limited. 



44 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



In 1896 Indiana lost 900,000 bo^s from disease. It would 
have required 450 barrels of serum to have inoculated that num- 
ber and 1,400 barrels to have inoculated all in the state. The 
limited product, the skill required in its manufacture and use 
will limit the use of serum. It is likely to prove one of those 
beautiful scientific discoveries of comparatively little practical 
value. 

We have no treatment to recommend. No specific has been 
found, but there is a feeling that not enough experimenting has 
been done along that line. During the season of 1897-'98 I 
tested 141 so-called cures, using 4,300 pounds of the different 
preparations. They were not as successful in my hands as in 
the hands of the originators, but the fact that we have so many 
upon the market is evidence that they do some good and are in 
demand. The matter is worthy a more thorough trial than it 
Was possible to make in one season. 

To summarize: We know a great deal about the cause and ap- 
pearances of swine diseases. 

We know little about its prevention and less about it treat- 
ment. 

We can recommend cleanliness. 

We can further recommend that farmers persist in their de- 
mands that more study be given to .means of prevention and 
treatment. 

Purdue University. 




M 






^ 






4#7-. 


M- -... 


..iM 



PROF. THOS. SHAW. 



PROF. C. S. PI<UMB. 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 



45 



TWENTY YEARS WITH HOG CHOLERA. 

By James Riley. 

I HAVE been breeding swine for thiirty-eight years and have 
been a regular exhibitor of Berkshire swine for state and 
county fairs for the past twenty years, and in that time 
have had a great deal of experience with hog cholera. The 
breeder and exhibitor is more exposed to the dread disease than 
the farmer, as it is so difficult to make the fair circuit without 
exposure to the disease. 
The farmer and breeder should be constantly on guard and at 
the first appearance of this disease, 
should immediately begin vigorous 
measures to stamp it out. I have 
learned by experience that there is 
more in prevention than in cure. So 
let us discuss the best preventive 
measures. 

First, the hogs should be glvca 
the best sanitary treatment possible. 
They should not be allowed to sleep 
at old straw stacks, but should be 
provided with clean, dry beds, they 
should have free access to pure wa- 
ter and not be allowed to drink from 
JAMES RILEY. stagnant pools. I would recommend 

the Wilson automatic stock fountain or some other good auto- 
matic fountain that will provide pure, fresh water for the hogs 
at all times. The next important thing is the diet. Hogs should 
not be fed corn or any other kind of feed exclusively, but should 
have a variety of food. They should have plenty of grass, rye 
or some other kind of green food. With plenty of exercise the 
feed should consist of shorts and bran or ground oats and corn 
mixed, or ground rye or barley with some corn. The hogs should 
have free access at all times to wood ashes and salt. Mix good 
wood ashes and salt in proportions of three-fourths ashes to 
one-fourth salt, and keep in a shallow box in order to give the 
hogs free access to it at all times. 

It is very important to keep the sleeping quarters and lots 
where the animals are fed thoroughly disinfected. There are a 
great many good disinfectants, but we use chloro-naptholeum 
and lime. We use several barrels of lime per year and use our 
chloro-naptholeum diluted, 40 to 50 parts of water to 1 of chloro- 
naptholeum. We take a large candy bucketful of the solution and 




46 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

thoroughly sprinkle or spray the animals and the floor of tho 
feeding pen. The feeding trough should he disinfected and the 
slop barrel washed out once a week with the disinfectant. 

The hogs should not be allowed to become lousy. To kill lice 
on hogs that are gentle and easily handled, take a half-and-half 
mixture of lard and chloro-naptholeum and grease the hogs all 
over their bodies and inside their ears. This kills the lice and 
disinfects the skin as well. If the hogs are wild and diflScult 
to handle, sprinkle or spray them with a solution of ten to twenty 
parts water to one of the chloro. This frees the animals from 
lice and all skin diseases and keeps them healthy and vigorous 
so that if cholera strikes the herd they will have a hardy con- 
stitution to resist it. A larger per cent will pull through and 
recover; whereas if the vitality of the herd was in a low condi- 
tion almost the entire herd would be destroyed. 

If cholera does invade your herd, don't wait to experiment 
with "sure cures," but at once remove all healthy hogs to new 
quarters after having thoroughly sprinkled them with the dis- 
infectant. Then, confine the sick to warm, dry quarters, and 
disinfect them all over every day. 

It is easy to kill the cholera germ externally with disinfect- 
ants, but very difficult to kill them internally with drugs. The 
cholera germ will not live ten seconds in slacked lin '>; and the 
chloro-naphtholeum solution will kill every germ it touches. 

The shoes and clothing of the attendant on the sick hogs should 
be disinfected and all measures taken to stamp out the disease 
from the start and not allow it to spread in the herd. If the 
sick hog dies burn it at once, instead of burying it, as burning 
destroys the germs entirely, while burying, preserves them in the 
ground and they are liable to be dug out by dogs or hogs and 
scattered over the farm. 

If all the farmers and breeders in the country would adopt 
the method I have here given I know from personal experience 
that hog cholera and swine plague would be controlled and even 
eradicated, but one careless farmer can scatter the disease 
throughout his neighborhood. 

Indiana. 



— The brood sows should have a run on pasture of some kind. 
Clover, alfalfa, rye and oats are good. They should have plenty of 
pure water at all times. I consider the water fountain the best way 
to supply them with clean, pure water. I consider oats with a slop 
made of one-third shorts and two-thirds wheat bran fed twice a day 
the best ration for brood sows. — W. P. Winner, Kansas. 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 47 

WORMS— INTERNAL PARASITES OF THE PIG. 

By D. Mcintosh, V. S. Professor of Veterinary Science in the 
University of Illinois. 

THE parasites of the pig are so intimately connected with 
those of the human being that there is no doubt but that 
in certain stages of their development nearly all the most 
dangerous kinds are derived, either directly or indirectly, from 
the hog to mankind, and in return man furnishes to the hog the 
eggs of several of their worst parasites. Some of these worms 
are kept in existence solely by reason of the peculiar relations 
.^ existing between man and the do~ 

"> mestic animals. 

M-' \ Worms, sometimes on account of 

K ^ '' the movements and the interruption 

^^ . -> 1^ ^l^Qy offer to the contents of the 

bowels, and their other modes of ir- 
ritation, very often cause uneasiness 
and pain. From sympathy there is 
^ very frequent sensation of itching at 

the anus and nose, producing a dis- 
^^ - position to scratch or rub the root 

^.. j^ of the tail and poke the nose into 

the ground. This is a very common 
PROF. D. MclA'TOSH. symptom of worms. The bowels 
are constipated at times and at 
ethers relaxed with mucous or blood discharges; the mucous 
which is passed may be in shreds, which are sometimes mis- 
taken for fragments of half digested worms. They also inter- 
fere with digestion, both of the stomach and intestines, which is 
indicated by undigested food in the feces. The appetite is very 
variable, it may be natural in some cases, and in others deficient, 
depraved or craving, usually the animal has a ravenous appe- 
tite, eating material which it would not touch in health. Bleed- 
ing from the nose, cough and swelling of the lips are also symp- 
toms. The effects of worms frequently extend beyond the ali- 
mentary canal. Among the most common of these affections are 
derangement of the nervous system, such as vertigo, chorea and 
fits, obstinate cough, swelling of glottis, dyspepsia and palpita- 
tion. They also cause some fever and loss of flesh and several 
skin diseases. It is diflScult to diagnose a case of worms, as 
the above symptoms may be caused from indigestion. A new 
means of detecting them is by the microscope; even if there are 
no fragments of the worms present in the feces their eggs can 



4^ THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

be detected. Suspected cases ought to be examined by the mi- 
croscope, and if the examiner is acquainted with the character 
of the ova this will decide the case. 

Causes of worms: There has been a great controversy on this 
subject, but no doubt the parasites obey the general law of 
nature in their development and growth. It is probable that the 
ova which are received into the alimentary canal are capable 
of development in a healthy state of this structure, as worms 
are sometimes found in the stomach and intestines of a hog in 
perfect health. There are certain conditions of these organs 
which are favorable for the breeding of worms, such as indiges- 
tion, the accumulation of undigested food and of mucus and 
diseases of the intestine. The kind of food the animal eats in a 
raw condition containing the ova of worms makes the pig more 
liable to worms than other animals. All kinds of vegetable and 
animal food should be cooked; grains can be eaten raw with im- 
punity; hogs should not be allowed to eat diseased meats unless 
it has been thoroughly cooked. I have known healthy pigs which 
were given the flesh of animals that died from disease to become 
badly affected with worms. 

TIIORN-HEADED WORM. 

This worm is quite frequently found in the intestines of pigs; 
it is easily known by the peculiar proboscis which bears several 
circles of small but sharp hooks. They locate usually in the 
small intestines of the pig, where they fasten themselves by 
means of the spiny proboscis mentioned above, this being pushed 
into the lining membrances of the intestine; in some cases they 
bore through this and migrate to other parts of the body, where 
their presence causes great disturbance. The eggs of this worm 
pass from the hog and are eaten by the grubs of certain large 
beetles; in the stomacln of these grubs the eggs develop into 
embryos, or rather the embryos already developed are set free 
and bore through the intestine and locate themselves in the 
body of the grub. Here they become encysted and remain dor- 
mant until the grub is eaten by the pig and then once in the 
stomach or intestine of this animal it develops into a worm at 
once. The color of this worm is white or bluish white, the 
female being from five to twenty inches in length, while the 
male is from three to five inches long. The female is very pro- 
lific, producing immense numbers of eggs, which are of a some- 
what oblong-oval shape. 

Symptoms: Pigs may have a number of these worms with- 
out their causing any noticeable derangement; on the other 
hand, they often derange the digestion and assimilation, causing 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 49 

loss Of flesh, and a general unhealthy appearance. The animal 
is usually hungry and may eat large quantities of food and yet 
remain thin. When a pig has such symptoms with the absence 
of any other ailment we may suspect that worms are the cause. 
In very bad cases the pig becomes weak in the loins and the 
membrane in the corners of the eyes swollen, red and watery; 
the animal suffers pain, which is indicated by it continually 
grunting or squealing; such hogs are usually bad tempered and 
will bite and snarl at the other pigs. In some cases the weak- 
ness increases and the animal is unable to stand and soon dies. 

Treatment: This worm is easily removed by medicine. I liave 
had good results from the following: Give half an ounce of the 
fluid extract of spigelia and senna at a dose every four hoursi 
until purging takes place, or thirty grains of koosin as a pill, 
one dose of this is usually suflicient. Another good remedy is 
to beat up two ounces of pumpkin seeds into a pulp with sugar 
and give at one dose; this should be followed in four hours with 
a brisk physic, castor oil or epsom salts. Santonine is also useful 
in from three to five grain doses made into a pill. Chenopodie 
oleum (worm seed oil) in from twenty to thirty drops may be 
given in a little syrup, followed in two hours by a purge. These 
medicines should be given on an empty stomach. If the animal 
has become very weak the strength should be kept up by stim- 
ulants, such as small doses of whisky and cod-liver oil, or whisky 
and eggs, and if there is fever, two to four grains of quinine 
should be given at a dose three times a day. 

OXURIS VERMICULARIS (PIN WORM.) 

The seat of this worm is the rectum, but they are sometimes 
found in the colon, and have been seen in the stomach; on this 
account they have been called the maw worm. They are usually 
about half an inch long and white in color; they multiply very 
rapidly; their eggs are very small, and are often deposited on the 
grass, and may be washed into the streams or ponds of water 
and in this way enter the stomach and bowels. They are found 
in all the higher animals. 

Symptoms: They usually cause itching at the root of the tail 
or by reflex action cause derangement of other parts of the body. 
Though productive of great annoyance and even suffering, they 
do not usually injure the health of the animal. 

Treatment: Clean out the rectum by injections of warm water. 
Infuse two ounces of quassia chips in a pint of boiling water, 
and when cool inject it into the rectum; repeat in a week if nec- 
essary. A brisk purge will often wash out a number of them. 



50 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

TRECOCEPHALUS DISPAR (LONG THREAD WORM.) 

This worm is found most frequently in some part of the colon 
and cecum, but sometimes in the small intestines, either loose 
or with its anterior capillary portion inserted in the mucous 
membrane. It is often observed in great numbers in animals 
that have died from some acute disease. I have found num- 
bers of these worms partially buried in the mucous membrane, 
but they did not seem to have caused much disturbance. They 
are about half an inch to one inch and a half long and about as 
thick as a common thread, and are very active in their motion. 
From experiments that have been made, it appears that the ova 
are never developed in the animal body, but being discharged 
with the feces retain their vitality a long time, and if placed in 
water become at the end of about eight months and a half de- 
veloped into embryos, about one three-hundredth of an inch in 
length. It is probable that these are carried by the rain and 
other means into streams, wells, etc., where the drinking water 
is derived and thus become fully developed. There are no par- 
ticular symptoms by which we can detect this worm from others 
during the life of the animal, and the treatment would be the 
same as for the thorn-headed worm. Very often when worm 
medicine is given a variety of worms will be discharged at the 
same time. 

ASCARIS SUILLA (ROUND WORM.) 

This is a round, smooth worm of considerable size; the male 
usually reaches, when fully developed, six inches, and the female 
may be twice that length. This worm usually does no harm 
when there are only a few present. The animal will likely keep 
in good health, but when they are numerous they will disturb 
digestion and cause coliky pains, loss of flesh, dry hair, morbid 
appetite, restlessness and nervous twitching, and in some cases 
fits. Cases are recorded in which they worked through the walls 
of the intestines and, reaching some of the other organs of the 
body, caused death. This worm generally inhabits the small 
intestine, but not infrequently finds its way forward to the 
stomach or backwards to the rectum, and sometimes escapes 
from the intestine through the anus. This worm has also been 
found in the biliary duct, gall, bladder and the substance of the 
liver. There has been a number of experiments made to find the 
origin of this worm, and it is found that the eggs of this worm 
are passed from the bowels. They retain their vitality for a 
long time, they appear never to be developed in the bowels, but 
when discharged and kei^t in water they begin to show signs of 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 5 1 

life and in about seven months contain embryo worms one one- 
liundred and twentieth of an inch in length. These have not 
been seen to break shell, but the ova carried into streams, ponds 
and wells sometimes probably find an entrance into the stomach 
with the drinking water, when the embryo escapes from its 
shell and completes its growth in the intestine. 

Treatment: The best remedy for this worm is the fluid ex- 
tract of spigelia and senna given in half ounce doses every four 
hours until it causes purging. Worm seed oil (chenopodium) in 
doses of from five to ten drops given in a tablespoonful of castor 
oil is also good. Turpentine in doses of from fifteen to twenty 
drops three times a day for two days followed by castor oil or 
epsom salts, is useful. The cedar apple, an excrescence found on 
the red cedar, has been used with good results in doses of from 
twenty to twenty-five grains of the powder, repeated three times 
a day, followed by a physic. 

SPIROPTEBA STRONGYLINE— RUD. 

There are a number of small, whitish or reddish round worms 
which taper somewhat towards the anterior end, or towards 
both ends. The head is small, with small papillae or naked; the 
male grows to about half an inch long or more; the female one- 
third of an inch or more; it lives in the stomach of the pig, but 
generally does not produce any serious disease. The fluid extract 
of spigelia and senna in half ounce doses, given every four hours, 
until purging ensues, usually dislodges them. 

SCLEROSTOTUM DENTATUM DIESING. 

This is a small worm living in the intestine® of swine. The 
male is about one-third of an inch long; the female is half an 
inch long; the body is of a dark color and the surface is finely 
marked with transverse striae. It is quite slender and tapering 
at each end, but the male has near the tail a three-lobed expan- 
sion. The eggs are laid in the intestines, from which they pass 
into the open air and are soon hatched. The mouth of this worm 
is circular and armed with six teeth, by means of which it at- 
taches itself to th«e intestines and pierces the tissue, feeding 
upon the blood. If there are many of them they create such a 
drain on the system of their host as to weaken and possibly de- 
stroy it. It may also by its irritation of the bowels cause serious 
trouble and disease. An active purging is the best remedy for 
the removal of this worm. 

STRONGYLUS DENTATUS (RUD.) 

This worm Is found In the intestine of the hog. It is a slender 



52 THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 

filiform worm about half an inch long; the head is obtuse and 
surrounded by six acute papillae; the oesophagus is short, thick 
and muscular; in the male the tail is truncated and provided 
with an oblique bursa; in the female it is elongated and slender, 
ending in a fine point; the genital opening is near the posterior 
end. The history of this worm is not known. It does not seem 
to do much harm. The usual treatment for worms is nearly al- 
ways effectual in bringing them away. I have seen quite a num- 
ber of them mixed with other worms in the feces of a hog that 
had been treated for worms. 

STKONGYLUS ELONGATUS. 

This species live in the lung and air passages of the pig. This 
worm is about oUe to one and one-half inches long. They often 
occur singly or several together. When they are numerous they 
set up great disturbance, often resulting in the death of the host. 
The first symptom of the disease is a cough, usually slight at 
first, but soon becoming very distressing, and the pig shows signs 
of suffocation, which sometimes takes place, or inflammation 
may set in and carry off the animal. This disease is often taken 
for catarrh or some other respiratory trouble, and it is very diflfi- 
cult to diagnose unless a worm which has been coughed up may 
be seen protruding from the nose. 

Treatment: This is not easy in the pig. Small quantities of 
tuiTDentine injected into the nostrils may reach the worms. Tur- 
pentine given in teaspoonful doses three times daily for two 
days, will sometimes be of use, as the turpentine is partly elim- 
inated by the lungs. The inhalation of the fumes of carbolic 
acid is also useful. 

KIDNEY WORM (EUSTRONGYLUS GIGAS.) 

This worm is found in the kidneys of all the domestic animals 
and in man, although it is very rare. It is a large worm and it 
is said that sometimes the female becomes three feet long and 
half an inch in diameter, although usually much less. The male 
becomes ten to twelve inches long. I have never seen any of 
them so long, as they are usually only a few inches long. The 
body is smooth, round and tapering somewhat to each end, and 
of a deep red color. When such worms are present in the kid- 
neys they gradually, but completely, destroy the substance of the 
kidney which becomes filled with purulent matter, upon which 
the worm feeds, while the walls often become hardened with 
calcarous deposits. The effects and symptoms are the same as 
in other acute diseases or abcesses in one of the kidneys. The 
only positive proof of the presence of the worm would be the 



THE HOG AND HOG CHOLERA. 35 

discovery of the eggs in the urine. It is probable that no remedy 
can be applied when the parasite is once lodged in the kidney. 
The history of this worm is not fully known (Werrill.) 

I have found live worms in the kidneys of both the pig and 
dog and the kidneys were perfectly healthy and neither animal 
seemed to be in any way affected by them. The loss of power 
of the hind parts of pigs, which has been attributed to kidney 
worms, is not due to a parasite, but to paralysis of the muscles 
of the hind parts. I have made careful investigations of such 
cases, but failed to find any worms or any disease of the kid- 
neys. Paralysis of the hind parts would not be the symptom of 
kidney disease. 



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